iOS and iPadOS are endlessly frustrating to me

Anything beyond simple media consumption or limited writing (like a text or an MPU post) are just too tedious, with too many “pokes at the screen” (as Jobs would say).
Text selection
Getting the Select | Select all | … thing to pop up, or not to pop up.
Saving files.
Using Share to, then Print then pinch/spread to create a PDF.
It’s just tedious.
It’s better with a keyboard and mouse connected, but then it’s a laptop. I have a laptop for laptopping.

Maybe it’s just me.

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I agree. I play games, watch movies and videos, and read things (books, email) on iPads. Though I sometimes travel with an iPad, I would never travel without my MBP. When Viticci wrote his long odes to the wonders of working solely on an iPad I wondered about his sanity.

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I agree, I tried to use the iPad as a laptop replacement in some case too, but it does not work for me. Many tasks are more easily and efficiently done on a laptop (or desktop).

I do like the iPad for media consumption, reading and annotating, making notes when studying.

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Some YouTubers rave on how they only use an iPad for most of their work. I can not understand why you would go this painful route. Especially when I see them sitting with an iPad connected to an external screen which is only used for 70%… :slight_smile:

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I agree about the printing being annoying, but I do use my iPad with keyboard/trackpad 99% of the time these days. Sitting at my desk right now catching up on some stuff for work, and my MBP is sitting closed next to me by choice.

It def happened over time though, and without knowing it I feel my brain has been rewired on how computing is supposed to work.

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My 12.9 is sitting on my desk, now, with the macOS Mail window on it – it’s a extra monitor for the MBP. It just came back from the gym where it played Age of Ultron while I rode my bike. Not bad use cases.

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100% agreed. I’ve found it to be futile to treat the iPad as an equivalent to my MBP. Although I’ve settled on some good use cases for PDF annotation using the default files app and brainstorming/notes with Muse.

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I wrote my first program on a keypunch machine so I had to adapt to new computers and operating systems my entire career. An iPad isn’t as easy to use as traditional computer for some things. But like you said, after a while it becomes second nature.

I knew a lot of people who fought the move to Windows and the mouse. Some things never change. :wink:

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I used to be completely in love with my iPad Pro, these days I use it only for web surfing / reading / watching YouTube. It makes some things easier but other things are unnecessarily complicated. Any operation requiring access to files or text transformations or interactions between several applications is pretty frustrating. I also find Shortcuts pretty useless (as well as other so called “no-code” solutions) – for me it’s much easier to write a script on my Mac than string together primitive steps in a pseudo-user-friendly “no-code” app.

I have a friend who claims that his workflow is 100% iPadOS but it’s not. He hosts a Linux VM on Linode which runs a REST API that does a lot of things for him.

I also wish Apple were not so stubborn about touchscreen Macs. I mean, ARM Macs can already run iOS and iPadOS apps, why not give people the ability to use them as they were supposed to be used?

Another thought: my previous employer issued me a Microsoft Surface Pro, and I found it to be the best universal device I have ever used. As a tablet, it’s not as good as an iPad, and as a computer, it’s not as good as a Mac, but as a whole, it’s more than the sum of its parts. I would absolutely love to have a convertible Mac with Apple Pencil.

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I tried to make my ipad pro my laptop replacement with an epic fail.

The only thing O use it for is reading, marking up PDFs and preaching/teaching from.

I doubt I’ll replace it when it expires.

I’ve come around to essentially the same conclusion with one exception, I use the iPad a lot for long distraction free writing using the Magic Keyboard. When the focus is writing a lot of text not requiring other features, e.g., adding citations, images, etc, the iPad can be a wonderful writing experience.

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Same here. The iPad is a perfect distraction-free reading and writing device. I don’t have any games, don’t watch movies on it and don’t use it as a Kindle. However, reading many PDF articles and taking notes in split view (PDF Expert and Drafts) while sitting on the couch is so nice. This can definitely be done with a laptop, but it’s just clunkier somehow.

Consumption iPad
Creation MBP

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I use TMG. IPad Pro for every sort of consumption. Also ideation and taking notes. I have a Mac mini m1 for automation of document Workflows and for office stuff.

Yes, I’ve described the experience of trying to work with text and files as “having too many speed bumps” to get into a fast workflow. That’s where my Mac excels. It again comes down to the right tool for the job. iPad is great for reading, watching videos and checking off to-do items, and playing games if that’s your jam. It can be anything you want it to be but it has its limits. I’m glad people are getting over the “iPad as a laptop replacement” experiment. It’s a good ‘occasional’ laptop but a better reading and entertainment device.

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It’s hard to be 100% iPadOS when Apple neither provides, or allows, a way to backup an iPad. So I use my Mac for storage and to backup my iPad. My only option so far is to manually store copies of my files on both google drive and onedrive.

I suspect the reason iPads have no way to backup is the same reason Macs don’t have touchscreens. Apple want to sell everyone both devices.

As a laptop replacement, for my mom it’s perfect. No Mac or PC in the house.

For creation, the iPad can be pretty good too — slides, documents, videos (to a point), audio (to a point). iPadOS is limiting though and I’m not sure it will ever be on par with macOS.

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100% agree. I’ve been gifted 2 iPads over the past few years. Both are sitting on a shelf with batteries drained to 0% cuz I just forget / can’t stand to use them for anything. All the exact same complaints you listed. – MacBook Pro all the way, esp now with my M1 speediness!

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I actually prefer traveling (as in vacationing) with my iPad rather than my laptop. There are obviously some things I can’t do as well with it (e.g., the iPad versions of Photoshop and Lightroom are still lagging behind the Mac versions), but for the few weeks I’m traveling, the [small] size and cellular-radio convenience of the iPad outweigh the cons. All that said, I almost always use it as laptop, so at home it does tend to take a back seat to Mac.

I’m hoping that iPad OS evolves away from iOS into something more Mac-like, even if it never run macOS…

…oh and that car manufactures will eventually let us get an iPad dock rather than a conventional radio.

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The one I had today was trying to move a file using Dropbox. A hilariously tedious experience that would have taken seconds on a laptop.

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